Raynham Park's Carney unfazed by proposed simulcast dog racing ban

The fate of Raynham Park will once again be in the hands of the voters, with simulcast greyhound racing now on the line.

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled on Tuesday that a statewide referendum can appear on the ballot in November asking voters to repeal the state’s 2011 casino law, in a move that would also ban simulcast dog racing. Since Raynham Park lost live greyhound racing as the result of a 2008 ballot initiative, the business has relied heavily on greyhound simulcast gambling, which was preserved by the Massachusetts gambling law.

Raynham Park owner George Carney, who bought the establishment in 1966, said that he would wait and see how the vote plays out before considering the consequences for his business. Although he lost out on a slots license that was awarded earlier this year to Plainridge Racecourse, and Carney has no stake in any of the proposed resort casino projects in the state, he believes the repeal of the gambling legislation would be bad for the economy.

“I’d only be guessing (if the referendum will pass),” said Carney, when reached on Tuesday afternoon. “Not to duck an answer, I really don’t know how it will play out. I would imagine some of the people who have been awarded a license would be more concerned. I don’t have a dog in the race. … I’m not going to worry about it. If it passes, it passes. If it doesn’t, it doesn’t. If it passes, it would put a lot of people out of work who would need jobs.”

Carney said that simulcast dog racing remains a big draw at Raynham Park, which hosted live dog racing starting in the early 1940s. Simulcast dog and horse racing has taken place for about 20 years at Raynham Park, Carney said, predating the ban on live greyhound racing in the state. Carney said that simulcast horse racing would continue regardless at Raynham Park because it is not included in the casino repeal vote.

“It’s going to be interesting to see what happens,” Carney said. “I’m going to continue to stay in business as far as everything is concerned. If dog racing is out, hopefully I can keep simulcast horse racing. Between dog and horse simulcast racing (at Raynham Park), I’d say it’s probably around 50-50. A lot of the customers will shift from dogs to betting on horses. Dog racing always has been more popular.”

State Sen. Marc Pacheco, D-Taunton, also said that the casino repeal could be devastating economically, acknowledging the effect the ban on dog racing would have on the Raynham Park area.

“If pari-mutuel wagering is included, that would have a major impact on this region with Raynham Park,” Pacheco said.

However, a Massachusetts-based greyhound advocacy group that was behind the 2008 referendum to ban dog racing in Massachusetts said revenue created by simulcast dog racing is minimal when compared with all the other gambling business in the state. Grey2K USA, which threw its support behind the “Repeal the Casino Bill” campaign last year, said that the $28 million gambled by Massachusetts citizens last year makes up only 13.5 percent of simulcast betting in the state.

Carey Theil, executive director of the Arlington-based Grey2K USA, said the most important point to consider is that state voters already rejected greyhound simulcast betting during the 2008 vote. But, Theil said, “the only reason Raynham Park is doing greyhound simulcasting today is because the politicians on Beacon Hill went against the will of the voters” and reauthorized simulcast greyhound racing in the 2011 casino bill.

Theil said that the spirit of the 2008 vote was not to allow state residents to gamble on greyhound racing taking place at “some of the worst tracks in the country” located in Arizona, Florida and Alabama. Theil said that throughout the summer, leading up to the November election, his organization will emphasize the scandals of dog mistreatment reported at the tracks that are providing simulcast races to Raynham Park and other facilities in Massachusetts.

Theil said that there has long been consensus throughout “the humane community” to oppose greyhound racing because of the nature of the practice, including small confinement areas for the dogs, constant injuries and questionable medical treatment. Horse racing, on the other hand, has not created such a problem, Theil said.

Theil said the 56 percent of voters who approved the dog racing ban in 2008, passing the act in 12 of 14 counties, will be part of the reason that the casino repeal vote succeeds.

“After the voters went to the ballot, why six years later are Massachusetts gamblers still being allowed to bet on these low-end dog tracks,” Theil said. “We are confident that the question will pass. We are going to take our fight to the humane community and the voters and we are optimistic they will agree with our position.”